City-bound Barry gives 'em Kop for

The England midfielder made Kop boss Rafa Benitez pay the price for messing him around in last summer’s failed bid to snatch him from Aston Villa.

Barry, 28, signed a £5m-a-year deal with City but not before Liverpool tried to revive their year-long chase as soon as it emerged he was talking to City.

Barry had become disillusioned with Liverpool after the drawn out fiasco last summer when they baulked at Villa’s £18m valuation before paying £20m for Robbie Keane.

Liverpool had also earmarked him for a role on the left side of defence or midfield when he prefers a more central position.

With the World Cup 12 months away, Barry decided City was the right club for him despite not offering the Champions League football he yearns.

But the move has angered Villa fans who feel he has sold out by joining a club that finished four places below them in the Premier League.

Though Barry knows he faces their wrath, he feared going stale after 10 years at Villa Park.

“A lot of people will question my decision to join Manchester City but they were the club prepared to meet the valuation, which, for a 28-year-old with one year of his contract to run, shows how much they wanted me,” he said.

“Once I had spoken to Mark Hughes there was nowhere else I wanted to go. I was also desperate to avoid any long drawn-out saga.

“The World Cup has always been a major part of my thinking and I feel that at Man City I will get the chance to regularly play in my best position.

“I feel I’m joining a club that will seriously challenge to win major honours.

“People might doubt that, but I’m convinced the plans the club has short-term and long-term and the backing the manager will receive from the owners, that we will be a major force.”

Villa boss Martin O’Neill was desperate to keep Barry and the club had come up with a record-busting pay deal close to the megabucks City were offering.

But Barry said: “I need a new challenge. I have a massive fear of going stale and falling into a comfort zone.”